Photo: Sea Cow · CC BY-SA 4.0Aurora’s library runs 17 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 9 for libraries its size
Aurora Public Library District serves Aurora’s 180,542 residents from 3 locations. Last year it lent 921K print books and media and logged 578K visits.
What Aurora’s library is like
Every town next door borrows more
Aurora’s library lends 5.1 items per resident. Each of the nine neighboring towns with a library of its own lends more, led by Naperville at 16. Libraries next door ↓
Open about 66 hours a week
The main library is open about 66 hours a week, averaged over the year. Every hour the doors are open, about 87 items go out. The buildings ↓
A place to get online
Aurora Public Library District logs about 5,759 Wi-Fi sessions a day and has 226 public computers. That’s 12 sessions per resident a year. A year at the library ↓
Three places to borrow in Aurora
Aurora Public Library District runs three locations, and one card works at all of them. The buildings ↓
This summary is written from the numbers on this page. Numbers are the library’s own report to the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
What’s behind Aurora’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Aurora is ahead of 17% of U.S. towns, #617 of 754 in Illinois. Among the 385 U.S. cities over 100,000 we grade, it ranks #233. All three inputs sit below most U.S. towns; library visits come closest to the middle.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($70K–$117K) score higher, so income alone doesn’t account for it.
Civic life counts registered nonprofits, library visits and online volunteering groups, so it can miss civic life that runs through congregations, mutual aid or neighbors looking out for each other.
Library visits: IMLS Public Libraries Survey, FY2024. Nonprofits: IRS Exempt Organizations Business Master File, October 2026. Volunteering: Social Capital Atlas (Opportunity Insights), from data by Meta Platforms, Inc.; Chetty et al., Nature 2022. How TownRatings grades civic life →
378 community nonprofits are registered in Aurora
2.1 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: human services.
Community nonprofits, by kind
Counted from the IRS list of tax-exempt organizations by mailing address (fractions where a ZIP code spans towns). Congregations are counted apart (154 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 31 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
5.3%
5.3% of Aurora’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 8.1% in the typical Illinois town and 7.5% nationally.
Volunteering: Social Capital Atlas (Opportunity Insights), from data by Meta Platforms, Inc.; Chetty et al., Nature 2022. ZIP-code figures, weighted by where Aurora’s residents live; 2022.
About 25 kids’ programs a week
Story times, clubs, classes and events, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 6 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Aurora Public Library District serves 180,542 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 87 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Books and media off the shelf
921K print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
The survey has no count of children’s loans for Aurora’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
Each of the 398K books and other items on the shelves went out about 2.3 times last year, on average.
3 places to borrow in Aurora
Aurora Public Library District, 101 South River Street, Aurora.
Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other libraries in Aurora
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.71 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Aurora cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $13M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $23M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $13M budget.
Fine-free. No late fees on books returned late.
Retail prices are typical, rounded down: a new book $17, a kids’ book $12, an e-book or e-audiobook $15, a movie rental $4, a class or program $10, a computer or Wi-Fi session $3. The average cardholder’s month = the library’s yearly loans, attendance and Wi-Fi sessions ÷ its 98,777 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Aurora ranks 10th of 10 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Naperville | Naperville Public Library fine-free | 16.1 | 73 | A− |
| Naperville Township | Naperville Public Library fine-free | 16.1 | 73 | C |
| Batavia | Batavia Public Library District | 15.5 | 67 | A |
| Warrenville | Warrenville Public Library District fine-free | 12.0 | 65 | B+ |
| Winfield Township | Warrenville Public Library District fine-free | 12.0 | 65 | C− |
| Montgomery | Montgomery Campus fine-free | 9.2 | 67 | C− |
| Oswego | Oswego Public Library District fine-free | 9.2 | 67 | C |
| North Aurora | Messenger Public Library of North Aurora fine-free | 7.3 | 65 | C+ |
| Sugar Grove | Sugar Grove Public Library District | 6.4 | 50 | B+ |
| Aurora | Aurora Public Library District fine-free | 5.1 | 66 | C− |
Loans = print + digital items borrowed in the library’s fiscal year, per person it serves. — = no library of its own, a county or regional system (its numbers cover many towns), or no report. Civic life: — = not graded (unincorporated places, whose nonprofits can’t be placed by mailing address, or towns with fewer than two of the three inputs).
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- Digital loans not reported. Illinois libraries often don’t report e-book loans, so borrowing here is print only.
Hours are the survey’s yearly average; libraries are compared with others serving about as many people. How TownRatings uses library figures →
Questions about the library and civic life in Aurora
Does Aurora have a public library?
Yes. Aurora Public Library District, 101 South River Street, serves Aurora’s 180,542 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 66 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Aurora Public Library District fine-free?
Yes, no late fees (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Aurora’s library?
It logged 3.2 visits and lent 5.1 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Aurora’s civic life grade?
C− Aurora is ahead of 17% of U.S. towns on civic life, #617 of 754 in Illinois. The grade combines library visits per resident, community nonprofits per 1,000 residents and the share of adults 25–44 in volunteering groups. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Aurora.
Libraries: Institute of Museum and Library Services, Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024. Each library reports its own numbers. Distances are straight-line from the town center. “What your card is worth” uses typical retail prices and is an estimate, not an official figure.